bestPT simplifies scheduling and patient relationship management through the use of it’s revolutionary workflow management process. This system enables practice owners to keep track of their patient visits, along with all other relevant work, in a single location. bestPT helps practice owners create a systematic patient relationship management process while providing them complete quality monitoring and control.

New and seasoned Practice Managers and Physicians know that handling the day to day tasks of running a medical practice can be time consuming. Administrative tasks and responsibilities have increased with ever-changing government regulations, Medicare laws, and legal concerns. Efficiency appears to be a losing battle, and stressful workflows take a toll on delivering compassionate patient care. A paperless office was presented as a time and cost saving endeavor that would lead to better patient care. Or was it a trick?

Sound familiar?

A polished representative came to the office to demonstrate their EMR, Practice Management, and Medical Billing system. You were convinced, “this is the solution, what a relief, Ah…!” Thousands of dollars and countless hours spent on implementation and training. Finally, the “go live” date arrived. Then, reality hit; the staff forgot how to upload documents, the doctor was in the exam room trying unsuccessfully to view an MRI with the patient, and you frantically tried to fix the issues. The workflow stopped as panic took over. You finally phoned customer support and you were placed on hold. “Ugh,” you began to question…”How much longer will the learning curve actually take?” “Did I make the right system selection?” “Why did I try to improve efficiency?” “It really wasn’t that bad and where is that polished sales person now?”

Throughout the past two years, I have rotated mainly through one system. To my dismay, it had been one of the worst as far as electronic health records (EHR) are concerned. Most days I observed the workflow, thinking “If they just did this, they would cut the duration of morning rounds in half.” Let us look past the point that I was usually bored out of my mind!
There was just so much wasted time in dealing with documentation and communication. We are in the digital age. It really shouldn’t be this complicated. I cannot imagine how frustrated the residents and attending physicians must have gotten during this nonsense. This part of the job, which is non-medical, has likely been the direct cause of many doctors’ burnout statuses.
Since I have limited exposure to other systems, I am curious to know if this was a well-below average situation or a fairly normal one (feel free to comment below).

To start off I am new to the industry and have been inundated with copious amounts of information. I have to admit; at first it was confusing and overwhelming. As I become more educated about the process of Meaningful Use Stage 2 achievement, the required implementation of ICD-10, and the various other factors that make up EHRs / EMRs; it appears that the growing trend is physicians are not pleased with their current EHR / EMR. Some of the key issues that I see trending lately are cost, functionality, and support. There have been recent articles and surveys (medicaleconomics.modernmedicine.com) stating that almost 70% of physicians are unhappy with their current EHR / EMR. While physicians are receiving government incentives (HITECH Act) to comply; it does not seem to offset the costs.

The Office of the ONC has begun putting together a plan to look and find areas where electronic medical records can cause harm to patients. Two agencies, the American Medical Association and the Texas Medical Association have made comments and suggestions. iHealthBeat has done a nice job providing a summary of the recommendations made by each. Continue reading: AMA and TMA Comment on ONC Patient Safety Plan